Virus
by shadows and silhouettes
Summary: It's Matt's birthday and Mello is sick with some kind of virus, forcing Matt to take care of him. What a sucky way to spend a birthday, huh? Slightly AU. Some cussing. No pairing past friendship.


**Tsuki here! This is my first Death Note fanfic, and it's also for Matt's birthday! But only the second part matters. I don't really care that's it's my first anything. I just have that there as a reminder to myself. And now I'm rambling, so I gonna stop and let you read it. Also, is it really necessary to add something saying I don't own whatever recognizable things I put in here, such as the Death Note people (obviously), Tylenol, Gatorade, and Pepto? Hm...I suppose I just did...Ah well...Read this, NOW!**

**Also, I suppose this is slightly AU since it doesn't follow the timeline too much. Or at least I don't think it does. And sorry for any OOCness but Mello _is _sick and since Matt really isnt' all that defined I made him my own way. **

Mello knew it was too early to be up without even opening his eyes, but he didn't really care at the moment. All he cared about was trying not to throw up. The blond curled up on his side, tightly, eyes screwed shut almost to the point where his eyelids hurt. He was freezing cold, despite the sheen of sweat covering his fevered forehead. And that was the exact same position Matt found him in a few hours later. "Mello?" he asked, sticking his head just inside the door.

The blond lifted his head slightly to stare at the redhead. Matt could tell from just looking that Mello was sick. His face was flushed with fever, he was curled underneath the covers, _and_ he hadn't yelled at Matt to get out yet. "Nnh…" Mello answered, hiding his face again.

Matt ventured into the room, stopping by the bed. He reached out and placed a hand on Mello's forehead; Mello tried to squirm away from him. "Jeez, Mello," Matt said withdrawing his hand, "you're burning up! I'm gonna go scrounge up some Tylenol or something to help with the fever."

Mello didn't answer as Matt left. Matt walked to the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet above the sink. He looked over the contents searching for Tylenol. Not finding any, he cursed under his breath. He couldn't just go out and buy any either, since, when Mello got well again, the blond would have his head for 'using their money unnecessarily'. Mello had strictly told him that the money was for food and catching Kira only, and Matt decided to listen since Mello had a gun. Sighing, Matt walked back to Mello's room. Upon his entrance, the ill blond looked up again for just a second before tucking his head back into his knees. Matt frowned at this. He didn't like this Mello that acted vulnerable. It was just too…out of character for the blond. "We don't have any medicine at all," Matt said. "All we have is a box of band-aids, some antiseptic, toothpaste, and some vitamins in the cabinet."

"Fucking get some then…" Mello groaned as he shifted on the bed a bit.

"But you said…" Matt started.

"Just get something. I feel horrible. The least you could do is get me some medicine to help," Mello said, raising his head yet again, this time with a feeble glare.

Matt looked resigned. "Fine…"

At least he knew Mello wasn't in any real danger, especially if he had enough energy to still boss Matt around. On the way out, Matt caught sight of the calendar. Matt's already forlorn face fell even more. It was his birthday and he had to spend it catering to Mello, since the blond just had to go and catch a virus from somewhere. It wasn't like his birthday was super important to him, but he did like to at least acknowledge it. Shaking his head, Matt grabbed his jacket and walked out into the chilly February air, his destination: the store just down the block. He shivered slightly as the wind hit his shirt through the open front of his jacket. Once, he got to the store Matt walked to the pharmaceutical part of the store since it was only common sense that medicine would be there. His goggled eyes scanned over the boxes until he saw the Tylenol and then he also grabbed some Pepto, since there was a good chance with Mello curled up like that, that his stomach hurt. Grabbing both, Matt went to the checkout to pay. On the way, he passed by a shelf with Gatorade on it. He grabbed a bit since he had always heard that someone should drink lots of fluids when they were sick and all they had was soda. Matt stopped for a moment. Chicken noodle soup… That was supposed to be good too. Matt went and grabbed some. While he was at it he figured he might as well grab some more chocolate for when Mello got better.

When Matt finally had all the stuff he went to the checkout and paid for all of it. Then it was back out in the cold for a few minutes and then taking care of Mello for the rest of his birthday. _Oh joy_… Matt walked through the door of the apartment, pausing for a second to shed his jacket. Then he walked to Mello's room so he could give him the medicine. The blond was still curled up on his side. His headed lifted at the sound of his door opening. "What took you so long?" he asked with a groan.

"I couldn't decide what to get," Matt answered setting the shopping bag down by the bed.

"I thought you were just getting Tylenol?" Mello said confused.

"Well…I got that, and Pepto for your stomach since it's probably hurting right now. And I got some soup for you to eat and Gatorade for you to drink, and chocolate for when you get better."

"Oh…"Mello muttered against his knees. "Thanks…"

"How high _is _your fever?" Matt asked. "Normally you would yell at me for spending too much."

"Nnh…I don't care. Just give the damn medicine. I feel like crap…" Mello groaned.

"Fine," Matt said, digging in the bag for the Tylenol.

He got out the bottle and gave Mello two. Then Matt gave him a Gatorade to wash it down with. Mello took both and soon the Tylenol was gone. Then he buried himself in the covers again. "Gimme the Pepto later. I wanna sleep for now."

Matt nodded, though Mello didn't see, and left the room. He sat on the couch, sighing. Briefly he wondered how Mello had gotten sick in the first place, especially since his immune system was stronger than Matt's and Matt hadn't gotten sick lately. Dismissing the thought Matt fell asleep, still sitting up.

A few hours later he was woken up by movement. He cracked open an eye and saw Mello, leaning on the wall holding his stomach. "Why are you up?"

"I was hungry and you weren't answering my yells."

"Oops, I fell asleep…"

"I can see that…"

Matt stood up stretching. "I'll help you back to your room and then bring you some soup."

"Whatever…" Mello said, actually letting Matt help him back to his room.

The redhead left the door open behind him and went to fix Mello his chicken noodle soup from the can he got from the bag in the room. When he returned to Mello's room the blond was curled up on his side again. "Do you want that Pepto now?" Matt asked, setting the bowl down on the nightstand.

Mello nodded his head. Matt got the pink medicine out of the bag that was still in the room and opened it, sitting the little measure cup down on the nightstand amidst the other junk cluttering it. "How much do you think would be good?"

"Look on the bottle. It should tell you."

Matt turned the bottle around until he found a place that had directions on it. "2 tablespoons…" He picked up the cup and looked at it. "That's the whole cup! Jeez, that's a lot!"

Mello made a face. "I don't really want that anymore… I'd rather suffer."

"Quit being a baby. It taste nasty but it'll make you feel better faster."

"I'm not a baby. Just give it to me."

Matt poured the right amount, as Mello pushed himself up on the bed. Matt handed Mello the pink medicine and the blond downed it with a grimace. Then he started to eat his soup to get rid of the taste in his mouth. About halfway through with the soup, Mello stopped for a second. "Hey, Matt," he said. "Thanks for doing this, especially on your birthday and all."

"It's no problem…Wait, how did you know it was my birthday today?"

"It's on the calendar. I saw it when I got up earlier."

"Oh, for a second there I was a bit worried that you had actually remembered."

**So what did ya think? Feel free to tell any and all of your thoughts on this, good or bad!**


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